Jay Ajayi now has fantasy RB2 value

Dalliances with several potential starters this offseason could have produced a number of higher-profile realities for the Miami Dolphins’ backfield.

Most of them would have plugged in a more established running back to break with the Fins’ first-stringers this season. When Lamar Miller desired and soon received more money than Miami was willing to pay, that set off a rampant search for his successor.

C.J. Anderson looked South Beach-bound after the Broncos’ restricted free agency blunder, but John Elway corrected one of his few gaffes by matching his top ball-carrier’s Dolphins-constructed offer sheet and depriving Anderson’s old offensive coordinator of a proven NFL back. Overtures for Chris Johnson and James Starks soon failed as well.

It was fairly clear the Dolphins did not want to just turn their ball-carrying reins over to Jay Ajayi, but now that they have, it vaults him into the fantasy consciousness when under several of these alternate scenarios he would still have been a supporting actor.

Once the RB-crazed franchise backed off in the draft — selecting Alabama backup Kenyan Drake in Round 3 — it thrust Ajayi into relative prominence.

While on the surface, this saga looks like a movie studio that tried to cast Will Smith in a lead role only to end up with Marlon Wayans, the chasm between what could have been and what is isn’t quite that drastic. Going through so many options before settling makes a much bigger difference in a movie, or a TV show, or at quarterback. Miami failing on its extensive search for a running back saves money and could generate a better result than in some of these attempts.

For fantasy RBs, opportunity comprises a much larger part of the equation as it does for other positions in traditional fantasy lineups. Entering his age-23 season and doing so on the heels of just 49 carries as a rookie, Ajayi has indirectly negotiated a number of business hurdles to receive an unlikely shot. And Miami doesn’t boast much depth here, with Drake being the obvious handcuff, adding to the confluence of factors pushing Ajayi to the forefront.

He’s an intriguing RB2 that could get overlooked since he may be the most random starting running back in the league come September.

Ajayi has received Adam Gase’s endorsement — reluctant as it may be after how the franchise operated in recent months — as the starter, with the Fins’ first-year boss expressing confidence in the former Boise State dynamo last week in a press conference overshadowed by the Laremy Tunsil scene.

With Drake profiling as a complementary presence after being a backup for the Crimson Tide, Ajayi stands as the obvious option on first and second downs and near the goal line at the least. That’s a fairly high floor.

A fifth-round pick many believed was going to go higher in 2015, Ajayi dominated during his final year in Idaho. The 220-plus-pound back gashed opposition for 1,823 rushing yards and 28 touchdowns in 2014. And illustrating receiving chops, he added 50 receptions and four scores. He finished with a monstrous 397-touch, 2,358-yard, 32-touchdown line overall, and thanks to a rib injury that sent him to short-term IR as a rookie, the projected starter is coming off a year-long respite of sorts.

Sharing time with Miller in nine games upon returning, Ajayi only registered 56 touches, actually showing more through the air than on the ground. Although posting insignificant numbers for an insignificant team in 2015, Ajayi is in position to lead Dolphins backs in touches by a substantial margin.

A bruising runner like Ajayi, Anderson did his best work under Gase during a standout finish to the 2014 season in Denver. And his offensive line wasn’t noticeably better than what the Dolphins are planning to present this year.

Tunsil should join Branden Albert and Mike Pouncey in forming what almost has to be an improved quintet. It remains to be seen if Tunsil is going to take Ju’Wuan James’ job at right tackle or slide to guard — where Miami’s needed help for a while yet oddly failed to address this position in the draft. Either way, Gase’s arrival will enhance this offense’s playbook and open up avenues for Ajayi.

Ajayi is not as dynamic as Miller, but he’ll be playing in a friendlier offense than the time the Dolphins made a tight ends coach their sideline decision-maker for nearly a whole season.

The strange route to this job shouldn’t be held against him. The deceptively versatile ex-Boise State workhorse will be a name to queue up come RB2 time.

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